North Dakota State Opens Season Friday at Louisville Cardinal Classic
8/23/2010 3:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State women's volleyball team opens the regular season at the Louisville Cardinal Classic this weekend. NDSU is scheduled to play defending Big East tournament champion Louisville at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 27, and defending Mid-American Conference champion Ohio at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 28, at Cardinal Arena (840) in Louisville, Ky. Live stats will be available on GoBison.com.
THE SERIES: Friday will be North Dakota State's first meeting against Lousiville. NDSU is 0-1 against the Big East Conference with a 3-0 loss at Marquette in 2004. Saturday will be North Dakota State's first meeting against Ohio. NDSU is 2-2 against teams from the Mid-American Conference after wins over Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan last year.
BISON OPEN WITH FIVE NCAA TEAMS: North Dakota State will open its season with five straight opponents who reached the NCAA tournament a year ago. Louisville (21-11) has played in 12 straight NCAAs and Ohio (27-7) has won six of the last seven Mid-American Conference titles and played in seven straight NCAAs. The Bison go to the Iowa State Challenge Sept. 3-4 to face a Wisconsin-Milwaukee team that has played in two straight and three of the last four NCAA tournaments out of the Horizon League, an Iowa State team that was Big 12 runner-up and finshed 27-5 after its fourth straight NCAA tournament, and a Florida International program that was 32-4 and has played in the last two NCAAs out of the Sun Belt Conference.
SIX STARTERS RETURN FOR BISON: North Dakota State returns all six starters from last year's 23-4 team that won The Summit League with an 18-0 record. They are senior outside hitters Lauren McLaughlin and Brooke VandenBergh, junior middle hitters Chrissy Knuth and Janna Deyle, sophomore right-side hitter Brynn Joki, and junior setter Jennifer Lopez. Knuth is a two-time Summit League Player of the Year. She was an AVCA all-region honorable mention and ranked 18th in the nation last year with a .373 hitting percentage.
BISON CARRY LEAGUE-RECORD WINNING STREAK: North Dakota State enters the season with a 37-match winning streak in Summit League play. That is a league record, surpassing the mark of 34 straight league wins set by Northern Illinois in 1992 and 1993 when the Huskies went 16-0 and 18-0. Only two other schools have won more than 20 straight league matches. Oral Roberts won 29 straight from 1997 to 1999 and Valparaiso won 21 in a row from 2003 to 2005.
NDSU TOP 10 IN DIGS THREE STRAIGHT YEARS: North Dakota State finished in the top 10 nationally in digs per set for the third straight season in 2009. NDSU ranked ninth with an average of 18.00 digs per set after ranking third in 2008 and fourth in 2007. Individually, senior libero Kelly Lopez ranked 40th in the nation with an average of 4.90 digs per set. Lopez was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.
NDSU 45th IN FINAL RPI: North Dakota State's No. 45 ranking in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index was the highest finish for NDSU in four seasons of Division I eligibility. The Bison were as high as 38th in the weekly RPI released Oct. 26.
BISON EARN SEVENTH STRAIGHT TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD: The North Dakota State women's volleyball team earned its seventh straight AVCA Team Academic Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in July. With a team grade-point average of 3.48, North Dakota State was one of a record 94 NCAA Division I women's volleyball teams honored for the 2009-10 academic year. It was NDSU's 12th team academic award in 15 years.
NDSU 31st NATIONALLY IN HOME ATTENDANCE: North Dakota State drew 14,653 spectators to 11 home dates last season for an average of 1,332 that ranked 31st among all Division I schools. It was an increase of 362 fans per match and 11 spots higher than NDSU's ranking in 2008. Ten crowds over a thousand filled the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, including a season-high 1,808 against South Dakota State that was the second largest crowd in school history. NDSU has drawn more than a thousand fans to 16 of its last 18 home matches.
HOME SWEET HOME: North Dakota State plays its home volleyball matches on campus at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, where the Bison have won 32 of 36 home matches since 2006. The Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse will host the Summit League tournament for the second straight year Nov. 19-20. The completely renovated facility seats 1,206 fans in new chairback seats. NDSU has a 322-57 record at the BBF since 1978.
BISON UNANIMOUS NO. 1 IN PRESEASON POLL: For the second straight season, North Dakota State is the unanimous favorite to win The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's 10 head coaches. NDSU collected all nine possible first-place votes for 81 points, IPFW was second with 64 points, UMKC (54) was third and Oakland (53) fourth. The top four teams from the regular season advance to the Summit League tournament Nov. 19-20 at NDSU.
|
2009 Record |
|||
|
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Pts |
Overall |
League |
|
1. North Dakota State (9) |
81 |
23-4 |
18-0 |
|
2. IPFW (1) |
64 |
20-12 |
11-7 |
|
3. UMKC |
54 |
15-16 |
10-8 |
|
4. Oakland |
53 |
17-10 |
10-8 |
|
5. South Dakota State |
49 |
10-17 |
9-9 |
|
6. IUPUI |
47 |
20-10 |
12-6 |
|
7. Oral Roberts |
39 |
12-15 |
8-10 |
|
8. Southern Utah |
35 |
9-20 |
7-11 |
|
9. Western Illinois |
19 |
10-21 |
5-13 |
|
10. Centenary |
9 |
4-26 |
0-18 |
THE COACH: Erich Hinterstocker is in his fifth year as head coach at North Dakota State with an 84-29 record. Hired in May 2006, Hinterstocker inherited a program that went 5-31 prior to his arrival and made the third-best turnaround in the country to finish 17-13 in his first year. He has posted three straight 20-win seasons and led NDSU to its first NCAA Division I tournament in 2008. Hinterstocker came to NDSU from Alabama, where he was an assistant coach for two seasons. He also spent three seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin-Green Bay and one year at Alverno College in Wisconsin.
